As promoted in a Super Bowl commercial by NBC, the Broncos quarterback will join a long list of celebrities and athletes — including Derek Jeter (had to get that in there) — set to appear on SNL’s three-hour special.

Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin said “all of us are surprised” by their decision to throw on their final offensive possession of Super Bowl XLIX. (Matt Rourke, The Associated Press)

The Seahawks’ decision to throw on their final offensive possession — the one that resulted in a Malcolm Butler interception and a Patriots Super Bowl victory — will be questioned for months, if not longer. But those watching weren’t the only ones surprised by the call.

Here’s what some Seahawks players had to say after the game when asked about that play:

Richard Sherman, CB
“I’m a little bit surprised. It was an unfortunate play. Their guy made a heck of a play and that’s all you can ask for.

“What I would have done is irrelevant at this time. We went with that play. We trusted our quarterback, and unfortunately they made a play.”

Doug Baldwin, WR
“You saw it. Unfortunate series of events.

“All of us are surprised. In that moment with 20 seconds left on the clock and we still had a timeout. We felt like, from what I understand, we should take a shot, and still have another down. If we ran the ball and didn’t get in then we had to stop the clock and it would limit our abilities to run or pass. I don’t know I am just trying to come up with an explanation for it. I really don’t know.”

Bruce Irvin, LB
“We had it. I don’t understand how you don’t give it to the best back in the league on not even the one-yard line. We were on the half-yard line, and we throw a slant. I don’t know what the offense had going on, what they saw. I just don’t understand.”

Malcolm Butler of the Patriots intercepts a pass intended for Seattle’s Ricardo Lockette on second-and-goal in the waning seconds. (Rob carr, Getty Images)

Some have already been deemed it the worst call in Super Bowl history. Trailing by four on second-and-goal with 26 seconds left in the game, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson targeted receiver Ricardo Lockette up the middle, instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch.

Why did Wilson throw it instead of letting Seattle’s speedy and powerful back run it in? It’s the question everyone wanted answered after the game, and head coach Pete Carroll attempted to do so. Multiple times.

Only even he failed to find logic in the baffling play. The more he tried to explain, the less sense he made. We parsed his post-game quotes — as many as we could find — hoping there was a reasonable explanation buried in his comments. No such luck:

“Let me just tell you what happened because as you know, the game comes right down and all the things that happened before are meaningless to you now. It’s really what happened on this one sequence that we would have won the game, we have everything in mind, how we’re going to do it, we’re going to leave them no time, and we had our plays to do it. We sent in our personnel, they sent in goal line. It’s not the right matchup for us to run the football, so on second down we throw the ball really to kind of waste that play. If we score we do, if we don’t, then we’ll run it in on third and fourth down. Really, with no second thoughts or no hesitation in that at all. And unfortunately, with the play that we tried to execute, the guy makes a great play and jumps in front of the route and makes an incredible play that nobody would ever think he could do. And unfortunately that changes the whole outcome.”

“Really the way the route generally works is the back receiver gets shielded off so that the play can get thrown to the guy trailing. And it’s worked really well, it’s been a really nice concept but they jumped it, did a fantastic job. I don’t know if they prepared to do that or he did it on his own, but it was a great play.”

“We were going to run the ball in to win the game but not on that down. That was it.”Read more…

The New England Patriots came back late to beat the Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX. Quarterback Tom Brady was named Super Bowl MVP and Malcolm Butler will always be remembered for the interception.

The play after Malcolm’s catch a fight broke out between Patriots and Seahawks players in the final seconds of the game. Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin was ejected from the remainder of the game after throwing a punch at Rob Gronkowski.

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the trophy ceremony after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 to win Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images)

Unlikely star. Seattle’s Chris Matthews made the biggest catch by an unknown player since David Tyree’s helmet grab. The undrafted wide receiver from Kentucky — via the CFL — made the first catch of his NFL career an acrobatic 44-yard gain. And he tied the score near halftime with an 11-yard TD reception.

Butler did it. Rookie defensive back Malcolm Butler rebounded from Jermaine Kearse’s breathtaking catch to sneak in front of Ricardo Lockette for the title-clinching pick.

Look at Lynch go. Tailback Marshawn Lynch caffeinated the Seattle team with his relentless style. He wore down the Pats in the second half, but was a spectator on Seattle’s final offensive play.

Worst

Pass fail. Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called one of the worst plays in Super Bowl history. With Seattle at the Patriots’ 1-yard line, clock to crunch and Marshawn Lynch frothing, Russell Wilson fired a pick to rookie DB Malcolm Butler.

Lane change. Jeremy Lane boasted that the Seahawks would stop Rob Gronkowski. The cornerback intercepted Tom Brady — the quarterback’s first red-zone pick in the playoffs since 2007 — but never returned. Lane broke his left arm when he was tackled.

Bad Bruce. Seattle’s Bruce Irvin was ejected after starting a brawl as the Pats attempted to run out the clock.

Game balls

Tom Brady
He overcame two poor decisions on picks to stage a legacy-defining fourth-quarter drive. Picking on the injury-ravaged Seahawks secondary, Brady eluded pressure, stepping up in the pocket to find Julian Edelman and Shane Vereen. Brady set a Super Bowl record for completions with 37. None was bigger than his last. He found Edelman for a go-ahead touchdown in a fourth quarter that was as impressive as it was convincing.

Malcolm Butler
The undrafted rookie from West Alabama made a play that will provide him free dinners for life in the greater Boston area. After wide receiver Jermaine Kearse pulled off a David Tyree moment with a bobbling, falling catch against Butler, the cornerback responded moments later. With the Seahawks inexplicably passing from the 1-yard line, Butler jumped a slant to Ricardo Lockette. He picked off the pass, sealing an improbable fourth-quarter comeback.

Chris Matthews
The undrafted wide receiver from Kentucky delivered the best game of his life on the biggest stage. He entered the game with no NFL receptions. As in zero. He caught a 44-yard pass that set up a score, then hauled in an 11-yard touchdown. He eclipsed 100 yards but missed out on a trip to Disneyland when the Seahawks failed on their final drive.

PHOENIX — The Broncos lost four regular-season games this season. The Rockies would consider that a good week. Denver won its division and lost its head coach, John Fox mutually parting ways for more security in Chicago. The Rockies have never won a division title.

The differences between my current and former beat remain stark. The NFL masters the event, creating drama, hype and interest from all demographics. As a noted columnist told me when I first traveled covering the NFL in 1997, “Football is one-night stand. Baseball is a romance.” The World Series can’t compete with football. Attention spans have changed. Only a Game 7 draws a strong audience as baseball has become a regional sport. Passion remains strong in cells, but is not universal once a city’s team is eliminated.

The Seahawks and Patriots face off in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (Timothy A. Clary, AFP, Getty Images)

A roundup of intriguing headlines, photos, Tweets and more in advance of Super Bowl XLIX, between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Glendale, Ariz. (4:30 p.m. MT):

This could be the worst Super Bowl ever
On Sunday, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will be among the most talented teams to take the field in the Super Bowl. But great-seeming matchups didn’t translate into great Super Bowls. (FiveThirtyEight)

Seahawks offer Marshawn Lynch huge contract extension
The deal is believed to include more than $10 million for Lynch in the 2015 season alone. Lynch currently is slated to make $5 million in 2015, the final year of what originally was a four-year, $31 million deal. (NFL.com)

Why Super Bowl repeats are so rare
Half of the past eight Super Bowl champions failed to even make the playoffs the next season, and the last to even win a single playoff game was the 2005 Patriots. (ESPN)

Six plays that will swing the Super Bowl
What will decide Sunday’s Super Bowl is a handful of specific plays and schemes that each team has come to rely on—and whether the opposing team can stop them. (The Wall Street Journal)

PHOENIX — Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk paused on the red carpet. The question was simple, but the answer was not. He believes Peyton Manning will return to the Broncos. But he wondered how he will fit in Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking, mobile-pocket scheme. Faulk explained from the NFL Honors event.

Broncos’ star Von Miller fits well in this environment, a havoc-causing linebacker with a designer’s sense for fashion.

Miller spent part of this week taking a mental break, still smarting from the Broncos’ early playoff exit. The defeat pulled a loose thread, leading to an almost entirely new coaching staff. Miller welcomes talk of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips using a 3-4 scheme.

When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

What’s up: Brady is under suspicion of having one of his ball boys deflate the game balls below required specifications before the Patriots’ AFC championship game two weeks ago against the Indianapolis Colts. The Pats won 45-7. In the first half, when the balls were deflated, Brady completed 11-of-21 passes while posting a 60.6 rating. New England was up 17-7 at halftime. After the balls were filled to regulation at halftime, Brady went 12-of-14 with a 145.2 rating in the second half. The Pats outscored the Colts 28-0 after halftime.

Background: The first pick in the 2000 NFL draft — which was denounced by draftniks as a terrible quarterback class — was defensive end Courtney Brown. The first quarterback wasn’t taken until Chad Pennington became the No. 18 pick. The second QB taken wasn’t until the third round, when San Francisco drafted Giovanni Carmazzi. Then it was Tee Martin in the fifth round, Marc Bulger at No. 168 in the sixth and Spurgeon Wynn at No. 183 in the sixth before Brady, a Michigan man, was taken at No. 199 in the sixth.

Klis’ take: For the second Super Bowl in a row, Seattle’s Russell Wilson goes in as the “other” quarterback. The spotlight was on Peyton Manning’s legacy last year. Wilson prevailed. This time Deflategate has put Brady under the microscope. My presumption is that Brady isn’t totally innocent in the air-pressure controversy. But I don’t think it will tarnish his legacy. If Brady can overcome the distraction and beat the terrific Seattle defense, it would be no small feat. A victory would place Brady alongside Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls. I like Wilson and the Seahawks to prevail again. Win or lose, Brady is the only QB to start six Super Bowls.

Eric Decker, left, and Demaryius Thomas reunited for an October game between the Jets and Broncos in New York. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

If the Broncos’ don’t re-sign Demaryius Thomas in free agency, Eric Decker thinks his former teammate would look great in green.

In a phone interview with The New York Post, Decker said he spent some time with Thomas in Arizona this past week, trying to recruit the Broncos’ star receiver to New York. Thomas — who finished second in the league in regular-season receptions (111) and total receiving yards (1,619) in 2014 — is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March.

But despite Decker’s efforts, Thomas probably won’t make it to the open market. The Broncos are expected to at least franchise him, to retain his rights through the 2015 season, if not sign him to a longer-term deal.

“I’ve been pushing for the entire year now,” Decker said in a telephone interview with The Post. “It was just another opportunity to talk to him about it. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I think it would be tough for Denver to let him go. So whether they franchise-tag him here in the next month or give him a long-term deal, he’s just one of those premier players in this league. If he happens to make it to free agency, I would love to sign him because playing alongside him for four years and especially the last two years made it a lot of fun and made it a lot easier. He’s just one of the great players in this league.”

Peyton Manning may never be able to live down that Nationwide commercial, the one where he applied the “Nationwide is on your side” jingle to pretty much everything, including chicken parm sandwiches. His teammates razzed him about it, T-Shirts were made for it and now, as he ponders one of the biggest decisions of his life, his fellow players and fans are using it to sway him.

PHOENIX — This much is known: Peyton Manning joined forces with New England’s Tom Brady on changing footballs nearly a decade ago. Manning wasn’t interested in the air pressure, he said Friday, but the texture of the footballs in visiting stadiums. Until Brady and Manning wrote to the NFL’s competition committee, the home team supplied the game-day footballs. This led to problems, and a funny story from Manning.

“I don’t know anything about air pressure in a ball ever since the K2 back in the day as a kid. I am not versed in it. Tom and I were part of that rule (change) a couple of years ago to be able to simply have your own ball boys be able to prepare your own footballs,” Manning said.

“I remember the first ever game I played in. It was against Seattle in the preseason. And Warren Moon liked the balls right out of the box, I mean right out of the plastic. And I had three balls slip out of my hand and go backwards. And I remember (Colts coach) Jim Mora yelling at me, ‘What in the world is going on?’ I said, ‘I can’t grip the ball.’ So you had to adjust everytime you were the visiting team to the footballs you were going to be playing with. And you had to grip them differently. But that was all texture. That rule was all simply about being able to break them in, if you will.”

PHOENIX – Peyton Manning exhibited the signs of a player who was not ready to become a former player.

He was relaxed, invigorated. He had a nice talk with new Broncos coach Gary Kubiak on Wednesday, and club president Joe Ellis on Friday and they will chat some more. He will also talk with Broncos general manager John Elway soon.

Peyton Manning was awarded the Bart Starr Award on Friday for his leadership and character off the field. But it was his plans on the field that many were hoping he’d reveal.

The 17-year veteran ended the 2014 season by remaining noncommittal about 2015. After his acceptance speech Friday — in which he offered a powerful speech about leadership, character and the impact he hopes to have on even non-NFL fans — a group of reporters pulled him aside to get an update.

“I haven’t made a decision,” he said. “I’m still trying to take some time to evaluate some things, to talk to some people. Obviously the Broncos have been quite busy hiring staff. I have had some dialogue with coach (Gary) Kubiak, I did have a chance to see him in person the other day. These NFL rules are a little different — you’re not allowed to talk football. So it was a chance for he and I to really get to know each other, and I really enjoyed my visit with him.”Read more…

Peyton Manning has more than a month to make his decision about 2015, and many have already weighed on whether they think the Broncos’ quarterback will return.

On Thursday, Tom Brady became the latest to weigh in. A rival of Manning’s on the field and a friend off, Brady told reporters in Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLIX, that he hopes Manning comes back.

“What a great player he’s been for this league,” Brady said. “He’s a great competitor, and I’ve been fortunate to play against him a bunch of times. I certainly hope he comes back, ’cause the league will miss him if he doesn’t. But those decisions are up to him. I’m sure it’s up to whether he’s mentally and physically — that’s what he wants to do. But I certainly hope he’s back.”

When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday vs. the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

What’s up: Brady is under suspicion of having one of his ball boys deflate the game balls below required specifications before the Patriots’ AFC championship game two weeks ago against the Indianapolis Colts. The Pats won 45-7. In the first half, when the balls were deflated, Brady completed 11-of-21 passes while posting a 60.6 rating. New England was up 17-7 at halftime. After the balls were filled to regulation at halftime, Brady in the second half went 12-of-14 with a 145.2 rating. The Pats outscored the Colts, 28-0 in the second half.

A photo posted by Waste Management Phoenix Open (@wmphoenixopen) on Jan 28, 2015 at 3:56pm PST

… and is still built like a pro wrestler.

His latest victory? He won the par-3 celebrity challenge, with Patrick Reed, at the Phoenix Open pro-am on Wednesday by nailing a tee shot on the 16th hole. Tebow won $40,000 for his shot, which will go to the Tim Tebow Foundation.

In the 2009 draft, the Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels so badly wanted to select Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith they paid a heavy price to get him. The Broncos made a deal with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos got the Seahawks’ No. 37 overall pick in the second round in exchange for one of the Broncos’ first-round picks in the following year’s draft.

That 2010 first-round pick turned out to be No. 14 overall. The Seahawks took Earl Thomas III, who is only the best safety in the NFL. Ouch!

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.